Mega Man 1
by kkhohoho
Summary: In the year 200X, humanity has made many advancements in robotics, whose functions can range anywhere from combat to cleaning. Humans and robots live in peace, with one man - Doctor Thomas Light - being largely responsible. But another seeks to use them for his own ends, and the only one who can stop him is a robot who must make a choice that goes against his very nature...
1. Chapter 1: A New Era

MEGA MAN 1: Chapter 1

"Doctor Light! Doctor Light! DOCTOR LIGHT!"

An old, somewhat chubby man rocketed straight up in his chair, clutching his chest as though he had just had a heart attack. He whirled around to see who was apparently in the midst of making an attack upon his life, but much to his relief, it was nothing more than a young blond girl in a cute red dress. He smiled and breathed a heavy sigh, realizing that he should have expected her to to come get him at this hour.

"Good morning Roll," he said, stretching as let out a large yawn. "It is morning, isn't it?"

"Yup!", said Roll, both as cheery and as forceful as ever. "11:00:36 AM if you want to be exact. Which means it's time to get your butt out of that chair already."

"I suppose," said Light, chuckling under his breath. "I did ask you to wake me up in case, well, this happened, didn't I?"

"You got it!" said Roll, sticking out a thumb up. "Honestly, I don't know where you'd be if you never created me."

"I've wondered the same thing myself," said Light. "Thank you Roll."

"No problem," said Roll. "This is the sort of thing I was built for after all."

"Well," said Light, "yes, but remember-"

"I know," said Roll, "I know. 'Robots are always more than the sum of their parts.'"

"Precisely," said Light. "Just because you were built for something in particular shouldn't mean that should be the only thing you are capable of."

"Just what that does that mean anyway?", said Roll. "If I was built to do something, shouldn't I do it?"

"If you never again wish to ask that question," said Light, "then you'll have your answer."

"If you say so ," said Roll. "In the meantime, we need to get you over to that press conference. What were you even doing here anyway?"

"Ah." scratched the back of his head, looking around his workshop. For the most part, it was a neat and orderly little room, with various tools and robotic parts arranged exactly where he wanted them to be. However, the workbench was a different story, with various red parts seemingly scattered all across it. "I was in the beginning stages of, let's say, a special project of mine."

"'Special project?", said Roll.

"Yes," said Light, his smile beaming. "Very special."

"How special?", asked Roll, folding her arms together.

"He coyly looked either way before bending down and whispering into Roll's ear, "It's a Christmas present for Rock."

"Seriously?", yelled Roll, as if she were about to bring the house down. Light did his best to quite her down, lest Rock be made aware of his special gift.

"Yes," said Light, "yes it is. But we don't want Rock to know, do we?"

It took a second or two for this to register with Roll's processor, but it wasn't long before she got the gist. "Oh, right," said Roll. "Sorry."

"Don't be," said Light. "Who wouldn't be excited to receive the best gift a boy like Rock could ever have?"

"But, wait a minute," said Roll. "I mean, building Rock's present is great and all, but weren't you supposed to be getting ready for the conference."

"Ah, yes,' stammered Light. "To be completely honest, I was starting to get a tad nervous, so I figured, why not start Rock's present early? Building robots does calm my nerves."

"Oh," said Roll, "don't worry, I understand! I feel the same way sometimes, only I cook or clean instead. Building other robots is, well, I mean, you programmed me to know how to make them just in case, but it's still not really my thing, you know?"

"Of course," said Light. "I also understand. But I suppose it's time we were off."

"Yup!", said Roll. "Rock should be waiting for us in the car."

"In that case," said Light, "we shouldn't keep him waiting, should we?"

They headed out of the workshop and strolled past the lab and through the living room, passing by the various cleaning bots dusting the halls and mopping up the floor. Some resembled floating metallic orbs with arms, while others were closer to walking garbage disposals. None of them were humanoid, though for such menial drudgery, nothing more was truly needed.

They eventually made their way out of the front door and into the garage, and sure enough, there was Rock, ready and waiting. "Ready and waiting sir," said the young boy, smiling so calmly through the open window.

"Thank you Rock," said Light. He and Roll proceeded to open up the doors and step into the car, and it wasn't long before they they were on their way.

* * *

In a backstage room in a pristine conference room hall, an old man somewhat resembling Albert Einstein was sprawled out on a large sofa, dozing away with his breath stinking of brandy. However, he soon started to fidget; an arm twitching or a leg kicking. Before long, he was tossing and turning like a madman, as though the whole world were out of control. And it all ended not with a whimper, but with a tremendous shout that was only not heard thanks to the soundproof walls of the backstage room. He sat up straight and put a hand to his racing heart, wheezing like his life depended on it. He did his best to calm himself down, breathing in and out, in and out, before he was at last able to bring himself back to normalcy.

At first, he seemed to be relieved that he was free of whatever awful nightmare had disturbed him, but his gaze soon shifted to a newspaper sitting on a glass table in the middle of the room. The headline read as follows:

" TO DELIVER PRESENTATION ON HIS SELF-TITLED 'ROBOT MASTERS' TODAY AT NOON."

He sat there, staring at the paper without a seeming hint of emotion. That did not last. After what seemed like an eternity, an eye began to twitch, and his teeth began to clench, and his fists began to pump, and his throat started to gurgle. And just after that, despite his best efforts, he couldn't contain himself any longer. He screamed at the top of his lungs, seizing the front page of the newspaper and tearing it apart into tiny shreds. And just like that, it was over. After a moment, he plopped back onto the couch in exhaustion, yet still rather furious as his fuming would indicate. Slowly but surely, the fuming died down, and the man was at last able to control himself. He took a look around, making sure that no-one had heard him. Then, just in case, he he took the broom and dustbin from the corner and swept up the remnants of the front page. If Thomas Light were to see that, well, it wouldn't exactly be good for their relationship. If it even still mattered.

Speaking of Light, just after Wiley had emptied the contents of the dustbin and and placed both it and the broom back in the corner, he and his 'children' opened up the door and strolled into the room.

"Albert!", said Thomas. "Good to see you! Honestly, I wasn't sure if you would make it."

"You must be joking," said Wily. "I wouldn't miss this for the world! Although I would be lying if I said the thought hadn't occurred to me."

Light shook his head and sighed. "Albert, I know you would give anything to be on that stage with me, but you know that just isn't possible."

"Do I?", said Wily, scoffing at the notion. "You know that my experiments could have been a breakthrough in robotics engineering!"

"Albert," said Light, pinching his brow, "those experiments were unethical and you know it."

"Just because the authorities saw fit to give them an inappropriate label-"

"How is labeling experiments that push a robot's pain responder to see how much they can take not 'inappropriate?!'", shouted Light.

"Don't you start with that again!", said Wily. "Or do you want me to remind you how your first little project turned out?"

"That was an accident and you know it!", shouted Light.

"HEY!" Roll had had enough. She rushed towards Light and Albert and put herself between them like a wedge, doing her best to keep them apart. "THAT'S ENOUGH! This is supposed to be the happiest, best moment of both of your lives! You don't need to treat it like it's the worst."

Silence.

"I'm sorry Albert," said Light. "I shouldn't have gone off on you like that."

"No," said Albert, "no. "I shouldn't have even brought the whole thing up in the first place."

"Let's just focus on today," said Light, holding out a hand as he beamed once more. "There's no need to bring up what's past. Especially not this day.

Wily looked at the open palm, his brow furrowing for a moment, only for his gaze to relax as he took Light's hand in earnest. "Agreed. It's just that I am so tired of being in the shadows. Of having to rely on the success of others. If you were in my position, I'm sure you would feel the same."

"I might," said Light. "But I am sorry Albert. You should be up there with me. After all, everyone makes mistakes."

"Indeed," said Albert his countenance suddenly becoming rather grave, if only for a moment. "Still,what's done is done. And what still needs to be done is that conference. Shall we?"

"My thoughts exactly," said Light.

* * *

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?!"

In a sprawling conference hall, reporters of all shapes, sizes, and even manufacturing lines were crowded within, practically chomping at the bit to get the full details on 's latest breakthrough. While most were human, there were some who instead rather obviously not, ranging anywhere from an apparent young woman whose bright orange, electronic eyes just happened to give her away, to a floating black sphere with square pupils and spindly limbs carrying a microphone. It seemed that some news agencies found it easier to simply send robotic reporters to do their work for them. How far the world of robots and AI had come.

In any case, their attention was rapt upon an older man clad in a rather nice black suit, addressing the masses with microphone in hand. "THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOLKS! WITHOUT ANY FURTHER ADIEU, MAY I PRESENT THE ONE AND ONLY ?!"

In that moment, none other than himself came out from behind the curtain, graciously accepting the microphone from the man in the suit and smiling as he nervously tugged the collar of his lab coat. Not that the crowd noticed, aside from the more bloodthirsty news hounds.

"Is thing thing on?", said , briefly staring at the audience as he realized his mistake. "Uh, ahem, welcome everyone! As you are now doubt aware, this is a very special day; not just for us in the here and now, but for all mankind to come. And for all robot kind as well. We certainly have come a way long haven't we? Robots used to simply be crude automations, useful for manufacturing and not much else. Now, we have reached the point where many have their own distinct personalities, and some are even capable of making their own autonomous or independent decisions, or as much as their programming may allow. Such autonomy does help make them perform more efficiently in their tasks, though I'd like to imagine that there are more reasons as to why all of this is so fantastic beyond simple efficiency. However, I am not here to preach to what I hope to be the choir. No, I come to bestow upon what many may consider my greatest work yet."

Light then pulled back the curtain to reveal a row of six different robots, all generally humanoid and standing lifelessly on the stage.

The crowd oohed and awed, and cameras flashed in rapid succession. "Yes, it is rather impressive, isn't it? And what's even more impressive is their purpose. Each of these robots is built for a specific task." He gestured to the robot on the left, colored all in red and white with what seemed to be a rather large scissor attached to its' head. "Cutman here will be a boon in logging and forestry, while to his right," he continued, referring to a rather large yellow robot with black legs and arms and a red chest, "you have Gutsman, who will no doubt be of tremendous use in construction." He then moved on to the next robot; a bulky, somewhat pudgy robot with an orange and black color scheme and a mohawk. "Likewise with Bombman, whose expert demolition abilities will come in handy. Like Cutman and his scissors, he can draw upon an internal energy source to replicate as many bombs as he was wishes from thin air! Though of course, nothing lasts forever, as he will run out of energy at some point or another before he needs to refuel. But our next robot isn't quite as taxing on his energy supplies." Next up was a somewhat small, childlike robot in a blue parka. "Iceman is adept at assisting in exhibitions at sub-zero temperatures, and his abilities to generate ice will no doubt prove beneficial in such circumstances, especially since he doesn't run out of energy nearly as much as Bomb Man. Of course, after him is his counterpart, Fireman." He held out his hand towards a tall, gallant, gray and red robot with what seemed to be an unlit candle holder for a head. "Fireman can be a great help in waste disposal as well as clearing out any obstructive obstacles. Large or fallen trees pose no threat to him. And last but certainly not least, we have Elecman, who with his electrical prowess should be a godsend when it comes to repairing damaged powerplants or even downed powerlines." Speaking of which, Elecman looked like something out of a comic book; a masked hero with a red, yellow and black color scheme, including a bright yellow mask. "I trust that's everyone accounted for. These robots will be the basis for an entire line that will serve to assist humanity, but each of them will still have their own particular traits that stand out. Something that gives them a special spark that helps to separate them from the others and to allow them to serve even better in their tasks."

took a moment to take a sip from a glass of water on a nearby stool. "But it's even more than that. These robots, along with various others created by those in the same line of work as myself, will hopefully serve as a stepping stone to a greater appreciation of robots, and in time allow everyone to see that they are more than just simple tools. They can be capable of more than just manual labor or database management or other similar tasks. With the right programming, they aren't that much different than ourselves. Of course, the three rules of Robotics are still in place, and at the end of the day, they're still bound by their programming, but you'd be surprised at just what depths they can reach. The point is, robots can be and are more than just appliances. They are our friends, as I'm sure some of you are already aware. And with this project, I believe I can make that all the more apparent."

"Typical," muttered Albert from backstage, halfheartedly watching the conference from the sidelines and out of sight of the audience along with Roll and Rock, whose attention to Light had been rapt until Albert opened his mouth. "Always the sentimentalist."

"Quiet!", whispered Roll. "He's still on."

"Indeed he is," said Wily, rolling his eyes. "May God help us all. If there even is such a thing."

"Now," said Light, "are there any questions from the audience?"

Light didn't even need to ask. As if he had uttered a commandment from heaven, a multitude of hands rose up from the crowd, all belonging to reporters clamoring to get their turn in the limelight. pointed to a somewhat portly middle-aged man, beckoning him to make his voice heard. "Yes, you there sir. And you would be…?"

"Argent Mackeroy from CNN news. Are the rumors true that Doctor Albert Wily assisted you with this project? Even though he has specifically been banned from working in the field of robotics himself?"

tugged at his collar, at first unsure at just how to answer this. Wily paid a keen eye to Light from behind the scenes, waiting intently for his response. And Rock, noticing his sudden interest in the conference, paid a keen eye to Wily.

"I am not at liberty to say." Wily didn't even bother sticking around to hear the rest. He turned around and started to storm off towards the room in the back. "Wily, wait!", said Rock, trying desperately to reign him in. "You haven't heard the whole—!" And before Rock could finish off with "…thing,", Wily was gone.

"As far as I am aware however," Light continued, "Wily is only restricted from operating on robots or heading projects in that field. There is nothing legally restricting him from developing designs and submitting them for approval, or from working with other scientists who don't have such restrictions if he so chose. But I don't believe this conference was supposed to be about whether or not a man who made one mistake ago should be restricted from engaging in his life's work in any way possible just because some might think that to be unsavory."

Meanwhile, backstage, Rock had a decision to make. Not that it took very long. "Roll," he said, turning towards her, "wait here, please. I'll be right back, I promise!"

"Huh?" said Roll," looking somewhat confused as Rock ran off towards the same room. "But the conference isn't over yet!"

* * *

In the soundproof room in the back, Wily, with his hand on the doorknob, was just about to practically tear it open until he heard a rather familiar voice.

"Wily! Wait up!"

Sure enough, Rock, that little pest, had trailed him to the back. Probably to drag him back to that mockery of a press conference.

"What could a mere imitation of a human being possibly have to say to me?!"

"Look," said Rock, "I'm not really sure what's going on between you and Light, but if it's because he denied that you were involved in the project—"

"That's exactly what it is!", said Wily, whirling around to face Rock, practically furious. "He had a chance to give me the credit I deserve and instead, what does he do? He tells them he's 'not at liberty to say!'"

"Because he isn't!", said Rock. "I know you were working on some sort of experiment or whatever that the Government didn't really like, but—"

"How the hell do you know that?!"

"Uh," said Rock, scratching his head in confusion, "because you said it to 10 minutes ago? Me and Roll were still in the same room with you, you know."

It took a moment for the full reality of this to sink into the poor Doctor's momentarily thick skull, but sink it did. "Oh."

"But don't you see? Light didn't name you because he was trying to protect you! He—"

"Protect me?!", said Wily. "Don't make me laugh! I've never needed anyone's protection, not even Thomas'!"

"But if everyone out there found out you really had worked on the project, what would they think? I still don't fully understand all of this, but I don't think they'd be labeling you a gift to humanity. It might not be illegal, but I don't know if it'll matter to them."

Wily was taken aback. As much as he loathed to even admit it, this pathetic little robot may have had a point. "So. He was trying to protect me, wasn't he?"

"Yup!, said Rock, smiling like any real boy his age would.

Wily closed his eyes and breathed deeply, and after a moment, he slowly opened them once again. But something about them seemed different somehow. As if somehow in that instant, something new, something dangerous, had been unleashed. "Very well," said Wily, oddly cheerful and peppy. "I'm so sorry Rock. It really was a horrible misunderstanding on my part. No harm done I hope. Say, Light is still giving his conference, isn't he?"

"Uh, yeah,' said Rock, who was even more confused than he had been at the start of this. "Are you OK Wily?"

"Never better!", said Wily. "Now, we really should get going, shouldn't we? For all we know, the conference could well be over already."

"Well," said Rock, "uh, yeah, I guess."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the conference, was still answering the questions of the public when one particular reporter raise up his hand like a rocket.

"And you would be?", asked Light.

"Harvey Greenleaf of the People's Network, at your service." He did a slight, quick bow, almost as if he were mocking Light's supposed grand stature.

"'The People's Network?', asked , scratching his thick white beard as his eyes narrowed on Greenleaf. "I believe I've heard of you."

"I'm impressed," said Harvey. "I hate to admit it, but not many have. We're not exactly looked highly upon."

"Indeed," said Light. "You've been getting quite a lot of flack, particularly for your stances concerning robotics. Or rather, concerning the hypothetical lack thereof."

"I can't help it if some misunderstand us," said Harvey. "But enough about me. I'd like to go back to something that you said earlier."

"Go on."

"Well," said Harvey, "I just can't help but wonder what you meant about robots being more than just tools. About us maybe even being friends."

"What is there to wonder?", said Light. "I meant what I said and I said what I meant. Robots are capable of so much more than many of us give them credit for, and they deserve the chance to show that."

"That's what the People's Network is afraid of."

"Come again?", said Light, surprisingly taken aback.

"Think of it this way," said Harvey. "According to you, robots should be our friends. A fine sentiment under normal circumstances. But the circumstances are far from ordinary."

"Just what is your point ?"," said Light, crossing his shoulders.

"What you seem to be forgetting is that robots, regardless of anything else, are robots. Beings with capabilities bar beyond that of humans who have been serving our needs for years. What do you think would happen if they were finally treated as equally as we humans are? What would happen if they were no longer bound to the rules and obligations that keep them in service to us? What if they truly were our friends?"

"Why don't you go first?", said Light, his voice grave and solemn.

"Fine," said Harvey. "If they were treated completely equally with nothing binding us to their service, without the Rules of Robotics in place, there would be nothing to stop them from deciding that this sudden change of nature on our part wouldn't be enough to undo what they would no doubt see as years of servitude and forced labor put upon them. With the freedom to fully think for themselves, that is the conclusion they would come to, and there would be nothing to stop them from destroying us completely. What do you have to say to that?"

Any other man might have either balked at coming up with any sort of reasonable rebuttal or perhaps just shake their heads in acknowledgment. was not any other man. As such, he did neither. Instead, he briefly closed his eyes as he proceeded to straighten his tie. "Tell me . Have you ever had any children?"

"Uh, ," said Greenleaf, furrowing his brow, "I appreciate wanting to get to know me a bit more, but I'm going to have to ask you to stick to the question at hand."

"Oh," said Light, "I am. So I'll ask you again. Have you had any children?"

"No," said Harvey. "No I haven't. But unless there's something you haven't told us, neither do you."

"Hey!', whispered Roll from behind the curtains, as if offended at the sheer notion of such a thing.

" ," said Light, "if you've read any other interviews I've had in the last year or two, you'd know that I have two such children of my very own."

"Come again?", said Harvey. "Because, , I've read at least some of your interviews, and I know that you're not capable of having children."

"Quite right," said Light. "So I built some."

At that moment, a light bulb seemed to click in Harvey's head as he suddenly put two and two together. "Wait a minute. Do you mean to tell me that you seriously call those two robotic half-pints your—?"

"My children, ?" All of a sudden without warning, Light's eyes opened wide, and contrary to their usual composition, they were practically as hard and steely as diamonds. "That would be correct. And in a way, all of my robots are my children. Every single one of them. Every bolt I drill into them, every wire and ounce of circuitry that composes their very beings, every pencil mark that composes their blueprints. They are made of my sweat, blood and tears, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Uh," said Harvey, starting to sweat a bit himself, "that's all well and good , but—"

"I'm not finished. Now, as a child gets older, there's no denying that those later years can be rough. It's always possible that the child can lose their way; to lose sight of what's truly important, even going so far as to practically declare war against their parents. It's a fear of any father. But when it comes down to it, your only options are to give up on the child, or to give them a chance. To do everything you can for them while you can, and then trust them to make the right decision. But also to make their own decisions, because they are theirs to make."

Light took another sip from his glass, but he never let his eyes stray from Harvey as he did so, doing his best to make him sweat all the more. "It's the same with robots. They deserve for us to put our trust into them. To teach them and give them everything we can so that one day, when they're ready to go off on their own, they may hopefully make the right decisions. Now they may, or they may not, but how will they be able to reach all that they are capable of if we do not at least give them that chance? The only thing we can truly do is raise and teach them as best we can, and then when the time is right, entrust them to make their own judgments."

The audience began to clap, truly impressed at 's strong performance and the clarity of his words. But all Harvey could was tighten his fists and clench his teeth, more confounded by the Doctor's statements than anything else.

"You can't be serious."

"Oh,' said Light, "I am."

"Light," said Harvey, doing his best to reign himself in, "robots are not children. Children aren't capable of generating bombs out of thin air, or leveling a whole city block with their bare hands if they wanted to. We can handle children. But we can't handle robots, or at least robots who we insist on treating as children. In fact, it doesn't even matter if they have free will; someone could practically just flick a switch and reprogram them into dealers of death just like that. This isn't just about the nature of free will, . This is about Weapons of Mass Destruction and the use thereof."

" ," said Light, himself starting to clench his knuckles, but otherwise miraculously holding on to his composure. "If someone is in possession of a knife, they can use it for any number of purposes. One would be to stab someone in the heart. But the other would be to cut a piece of fruit, or a vegetable. And another may even be to simply butter their bread. Likewise, with a gun, one may be using it to slaughter and maim the innocent, or they may be hunting down geese or cattle to get themselves some dinner. Granted, seeing as I'm a vegetarian, I don't wholly agree with the latter, but I've trust I've made my point. The old adage that power corrupts absolutely couldn't be any more wrong. What matter isn't how much power you have on your hands. What matters is what you do with it. And all of you can rest assured that the power that these robots wield couldn't be in safer hands."

After a long silence, Harvey folded his arms, rapidly becoming rather disgruntled and giving Light the evil eye. "This isn't over."

"For now," said Light, matter of fact, "it is. Thank you all for attending this historic milestone, but I'm afraid our time is up. If any of you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Even you, ."

As turned away from the crowd, and as the crowd in turn did their best to urge to answer more questions as he walked away, all Harvey could do was gesture his cameraman to follow him as he stomped out of the conference hall. "For now," he muttered under his breath, "maybe. But tomorrow's a different story."

As Light made his way behind the curtain, Roll jumped up in sheer joy. "That was awesome !", said Roll. "You clobbered the snot out of him!"

Light chuckled. "Well," said Light, "I couldn't very well let him get away with likening my own daughter to nothing but a mere tool, could I?"

"You got that right!" said Roll, stamping her foot. "The nerve of that guy! I mean, why would I want to attack anybody? What have they done to me? If you ask me, he's the one with the screw loose."

erupted in riotous laughter. "Quite right!" he said. "Quite right. Of course, the only problem may be that it's possible he's not the only one who thinks this."

"Really?", said Roll.

"Oh yes," said Light. "He may be in the minority, but the minority have a tendency to be rather vocal."

"Are we interrupting something?", said a familiar voice from the direction of the soundproof room. Wily was strolling up to the two, with Rock right beside him.

"Hey !", said Rock. "Sorry I missed the rest of the conference. Uh, something came up."

"Apparently," said Light, turning to Wily.

"Uh, yes," said Wily. "There was something of, shall we say, a misunderstanding? Which this young boy has been so helpful in clearing up." He patted Rock's head, almost as if he were a pet dog. Rock was not amused, not that he said anything about it.

"I see," said Light. "Well Rock, you can tell me all about it later. For now, I think it's time to be getting on back to the lab, don't you?"

"Sounds good to me!", said Rock.

"Me too, said Roll.

"Wily," said Light, "you still wouldn't mind staying with us for dinner, would you? After such a landmark achievement, it's only fitting that those responsible for such a feat should indulge themselves a little."

"Light," said Wily, grinning like a madman, "you took the words right out of my mouth."


	2. Chapter 2: The Birth of a Hero

"BULLHOCKEY!"

Such a rather bizarre exclamation would seldom be heard these days, were it not for the existence of alcohol. Light and the others had just arrived home at the peak of twilight, along with a seemingly rather inebriated Wily. Rock had been using his relatively low level of robotic strength to haul in him over his shoulder like a sack of meat, as what was low level for a robot still surpassed even the best of body builders. And as they passed by the cleaning bots, now slowly wandering the mansion with their chores done for the day, Wily in his drunken stupor couldn't help but embarrasses himself.

"I tells you!", he stammered, 'I's tell yous, I could've been somebody! I could've been a contender! Everybody should be working for me! Hey Santa," he said to Light, "go up to the North pole and get me a coffee! And get the elves to bring me coffee! Everybody should be getting me coffee! "

"I suppose Albert had just one too many," said Light, chuckling as he closed the door to the house behind him.

"More like ten!", said Roll.

"Hey," said Rock, grunting as he laid Wily down on the couch in the living room, "don't be too hard on him. He's had a rough last few years."

"Indeed," said Light. "Never mind what he may have done. He's suffered enough."

"Santa," said Wily, "go out and buy me a new pair of shoes! Shoes are my life's work! Well, next to robots anyway."

"I suppose the least we can do is leave him here until morning," said Light. "In the meantime, they should have sent the Robot Masters back home by now. Rock?"

"Uh," said Rock, a tad startled, "yes sir?"

"I'm going to need to get some last minute diagnostics on the Robot Masters before they're fully activated tomorrow. Care to give me a hand?"

"Sure!", said Rock, practically ecstatic. "No problem!"

"How about you Roll?", said Light. "Care for a trip into the laboratory?"

"Do I have to?", said Roll, pouting.

"Not if you don't want to," said Light. "I swear, if it weren't for the potential risks or official regulations or problems with data storage, I'd have removed all of your programming restrictions in a heartbeat. But no, you don't have to Roll. That wasn't an order."

"Oh!", said Roll, clasping her hands together. "Thanks! Like I said, that sort of stuff just isn't really my thing. You two can go handle it if you want to. I'll go check on the cleaning bots and then I'm going to watch some TV. I think My Biggest Horsey is going to be on tonight!"

"Ick," said Rock. "No offense Roll, I'll take anything else over that. Give me some Mega Boy any day of the week!"

"Bleh!", said Roll. "Superheroes are for losers! It's all just punchy punchy fight fight nonsense."

"Well," said Rock, "I'm not going to say it's Shakespeare. Not that I've read Shakespeare or really want to, but you know what I mean. And I probably wouldn't stand for how he shoots first and asks questions later. But he's got such a strong, burning sense of justice! It makes you feel like, like you can do anything! And that buster of his is just so cool!"

"Says you!", said Roll. "So is Flutterbye!"

"Alright," said Light, chuckling again, "alright children. You two can really be a handful. But I wouldn't have it any other way."

"He started it," said Roll, turning aside and folding her arms.

"Hey," said Rock, "no need to get so worked up about it Roll. I didn't mean anything by it, really."

"I know," said Roll, sighing in aspiration before smiling and reaching out her fist. "You know what? They're both pretty awesome."

"Right!" Rock reached out his fist and lightly bumped it against Roll's knuckles.

"Ah, children," said Light, muttering under his breath. "Well Rock? Shall we be going?"

"Sure!", said Rock. "Have fun watching your show, Roll!"

"And you have fun with, uh, whatever it is you're doing!"

"Thanks," said Rock, and he and Light made their way towards the lab, with Roll proceeding to turn on the TV. Neither of them noticed Wily taking a small pill out of his pocket and popping it in his mouth before seemingly passing back out on the couch. Perhaps they should have been paying better attention.

* * *

As Light had thought, the Robot Masters had already been delivered back to the lab while they had been out. They were all standing on a platformin the middle of the room, encased in their containment capsules, as if they were just waiting for the big day. The lab itself was pristine and orderly, if somewhat spacious. "There they are," said Light. "Ready to meet your new brothers Rock?"

"Yeah," said Rock, looking in awe at the Robot Masters, like a kid waiting for the birth of his baby brother. "I can't wait to meet them. I mean, I love Roll, but she's the only robot like me I've ever really met."

"It does get lonely, doesn't it?", said Light. "I can relate."

"You can?", asked Rock.

"Of course," said Light. "There aren't that many who know or appreciate Robots the same way I do. Oh, there's and ; two of the best friends a man's ever had, next to Albert anyhow. Well, the old Albert anyway. But there just isn't anyone else, or at least anyone on our level who cares about Robotics so much. I suppose that's why Albert and I became such good friends, even though we're as different as night and day. And perhaps part of why I made you."

"But Doctor Light," said Rock, "I mean, I'm not a genius or a scientist like you are."

"No," said Light, gently putting his hand on Rock's shoulder, "nor do you need to be. What matters is that you are you. That you are you what want to be. And that makes you better than a million geniuses.

"Really?

Light nodded in affirmation. "Though I must say, you're not too shabby yourself."

"Seriously?", said Rock.

"Why else do you think I asked you to help me with the finishing touches? Both you and Roll have a fair amount of engineering knowhow thanks to yours truly, but you've actually got a natural knack for it. And that is one oversight I don't mind at all."

"Thanks!", said Rock. "To be honest, I actually kind of like it."

"You've got a fine career ahead of you," said Light, "if that's what you want of course."

"Well," said Rock, "I don't know. What I do know is, I want to help people. Isn't that part of what was I made to do?"

"Well," said Light, "if I may be brutally honest, you were made in part to help out around the house…"

"I know that," said Rock.

"…but you were also built to help others in need. And, this is most important Rock, I also gave you plenty of leeway in how you go about achieving those goals. The same with Roll. If she wanted to become, let's say, a nursing robot someday, or perhaps reality turned upon itself and she decided to become a mechanic, I wouldn't stop her. The unfortunate realities of our current limitations and restrictions in robotics may prevent you from having complete and total free will, but I've done my best to give the both of you the closest thing to it. Remember Rock. Robots are more than the sum of their parts."

"And what about the Robot Masters?", said Rock. "I know they're all got their own jobs and duties and whatever else, but that's not all there is to them, is there?"

Light couldn't help but laugh. "Of course not! Their programming may be more specific, but I can assure you, within those parameters, they may think and act as they see fit. Though again," he said, now with a tinge of of regret, "not as much as I'd hope."

"Oh," said Rock, still not quite understanding everything, but slowly and surely coming closer to doing so nonetheless. "Well, either way, I'm still going to be happy to meet them."

"I feel the same way," said Light. "Now, it's getting late, and we need to make sure that everything's accounted for. Care to start us off Rock?"

"No problem!" Rock gladly hurried over to the central computer, beginning the logistics and diagnostics programs as the fading sun continued to dwindle over the horizon.

"Now," said Light, "make sure you run the proper logistics. The robots are currently placed within their proper containment pods, which themselves are connected directly to the central computer. With that, you can issue whatever orders you like."

"Really?", asked Rock.

"Of course,' said Light. "You could even transport them to another location, providing you had the proper coordinates."

"You mean, as in matter transference?"

"Precisely,' said Light. "Handy tool in a pinch, though it is also used to transport larger objects as a matter of course. Now, if you'll notice this menu here…

* * *

Twas the night before Tuesday, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Well, mostly. One creature in particular was doing more than stirring. Slowly opening his eyes, Wily, still laying down on the couch, looked at his wristwatch to see that it was indeed 12:00 AM. Midnight. He took a quick look around. As he thought, Roll, Rock, and Light were nowhere to be seen. The former were no doubt resting in their containment pods, and the latter was likely sound asleep in his bed. But even if he wasn't, he couldn't afford to check. It was now or never.

He jumped up from the couch and sneaked his way to the laboratory. He was amazed at just how alert he was. That sobriety pill was worth more than he bargained for.

"Oh, Light," Wily muttered under his breath. "You really made this all too easy." He glanced at the six Robot Masters, all snug within their containment capsules. He creeped over to the Central Computer and began typing in commands at record speed, opening up the database entries for each of the Robot Masters before hacking into their systems. "You really shouldn't have given me the password Light," said Wily. "Truly, it's all thanks to you. And now for the finishing touch." After a few more minutes, all it would take would be a press of the button and all six robots would be transported in beams of light to a new location.

And yet. As his finger was placed just above the proper button, he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps there was some other way. If it was all truly worth it. He couldn't help but think back to his dinner with Light, just a few hours ago…

* * *

"Albert," said Thomas, mulling over his roasted salmon as he moved a piece around on the plate with his fork, his champagne glass just a tad empty. "Do you ever wonder if…"

"If what?", said Wily, rather enjoying his steak.

"You know," said Light. "If things could have been different."

Wily paused for a moment, before continuing on with his steak. "How so?", said Wily.

"Well," said Light, "I know that things have been somewhat difficult between us."

"Now what made you imagine that?", said Wily, as bluntly as he could.

"And acting that way doesn't help matters!", said Light, forcing his fork down on the table. "I just, I want to talk."

"We have been talking," said Wily, not even so much as looking up from his plate. "It seems to me that we've done so much talking, we've nothing left to talk about."

Light sighed, creasing his brow in frustration. "Do you remember, Albert?", said Light. "After I had lost, well, you know. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what to do. But you. You were there to cheer me up. To help me move on."

Albert, right in the middle of cutting off another part of the steak, didn't say another word. Rather, whatever else he was doing, he simply stopped. It was only after a long, awkward silence that he made his voice heard.

"And when I lost, well, you know," said Albert. "You were there to do the same for me."

"Things used to be so different between us Albert," said Light. "For the life of me, I just can't understand how things got this way."

"And perhaps," said Wily, that's why they have."

* * *

"And indeed," said Wily, firmly pressing down on the button and sending the Robot Masters to their new location. "They have. Here's hoping that didn't wake them," muttered Wily. "Matter transportation is always a tricky business. Of course, with my recent adjustments to the system, I shouldn't have to worry about setting off any alarms. So much the better." He then logged out of the computer and proceeded to make his way out of the lab, doing his best not to disturb any restful of souls. He reached the door, which was easy enough to open with the security turned off. "And that," chuckled Wily, "should be that." He walked out of the door, called up a taxi, and was soon on his way.

"Oh yes," he muttered, looking out the taxi door on Light's humble abode. "They certainly have."

* * *

At the crack of dawn, Rock's capsule opened up wide in the middle of his room. He stretched out his arms and yawned, feeling truly rested. Not that he really needed sleep the same way humans did, but the simulation of it still wasn't a bad way to recharge his batteries. "Right," he said. "Time for the big day! Well, the other big day anyway." He reached into his drawers and threw on a new shirt and a pair of shorts. He would have loved to have any sort of pants other than shorts, but considering both his lower legs and feet were practically giant blue boots, there wasn't much he could really do. (How did he even manage to get them on anyway?)

Still, no time to worry about that now. He tossed his old clothes into the hamper next to his shelf of Mega Boy toys and dashed down the hallway, rushing straight past the living room and into the lab. He made his way past the empty containment capsules, turned on the central computer, and —

Wait a minute.

Rock slowly turned his head back towards the capsules. He crept up towards them, unable to believe that which he knew was no doubt true, until it stared him right in the face. There was no doubting it. All six Robot Masters had practically vanished off the face of the Earth.

Just as he was about to start to panic, he heard a shrill cry from the living room. "Roll!" He dashed back into the living room to see Roll in front of the TV set, seeming to have stumbled back after the cry. She was too stunned to notice Rock, nor Light as he rushed into the living room himself.

"Roll!", he said, still in his pajamas. "What seems to to be the—?" He didn't even need to finish his sentence. All he and Rock needed was one good look at the TV screen to see just what frightened her so. And they were soon about to feel the same way.

* * *

"This is Argent Mackeroy from CNN News, here live to cover this Breaking story! I'm currently flying over the downtown district of Metropolis! As you can see, mass devastation has been wrecked upon the populace by robots gone amok! Serving bots, cleaning bots, robots of all sorts have somehow been hacked into or gone haywire and have been destroying the city! Cars have been smashed, lampposts and trees are being toppled, and buildings are just short of being totaled! No humans have directly harmed by these robots which suggests that that at least some of the Rules of Robots are still in place, but many have have still been injured as a result of the collateral damage caused by the Robots' rampage! But that isn't even the worst of it! If we zoom in on— ah, there he is! Bright red, some white, a giant scissors on his head! Ladies and gentlemen, this is unmistakable! Somehow, at least one of Light's robots has presumably been reprogrammed from its' original objective, and it or perhaps even they are instead leading these robots to unleash havoc upon the city! One can only wonder why these robots, supposedly designed for peace, are instead doing the opposite of what they were created for! This— hold on. We seem to be receiving a remote signal from… Hold on, we seem to be losing—"

Without any warning, static suddenly filled the TV screen until, in short order, all was clear once more. Perhaps in more ways than one.

"Greetings!", said none other than the man who nobody, especially Thomas Light, had expected to see; Doctor Albert Wily. He was surrounded by pitch darkness, only illuminated by a spotlight overhead. "By now, you may all be wondering just why so many robots have turned against their pathetic humans masters. Now, I could tell you this is all 's doing; that he in truth was designing these robots with the intent of world domination, and has now decided to make his move. But given the weak deluded flock that composes humanity, you might actually be stupid enough to believe it, and I wouldn't want my impending victory to be be attributed to a man who deserves far less than he has. No; it was I, Albert Wily, who is truly responsible! I stole 's Robot Masters in the dead of night and reprogrammed them to serve me! Not that I needed most of them, as all it took was to send one of his robots to the Robotics Control Center in the city, subdue it, and insert the proper command disk necessary to give new commands to all basic public service robots in Metropolis! The more advanced ones aren't subject to that same sort of control, but you know what they say; strength in numbers. "

Wily took a moment to straighten out his tie, doing everything in his power to look his absolute best.

"And this is far from the end. Once I've conquered Metropolis, I'll spread out to the rest of the world, hacking their systems and controlling their robots en masse! And I've got other plans in case that somehow doesn't work out. And the best part is, no-one knows where I am, and it won't be that easy to find me either, so it isn't like someone can just walk up and shoot me in the face. (Even though I am sure some of you are dying to do so; perhaps literally.) Face it! I have all the cards. Soon the entire world will know my name, and will worship it for decades to come as the name of the greatest genius that ever lived! And not even you can stop me Thomas. In fact, I am so confident in my complete and total victory that I'm not even going to lay so much as a finger on you! Consider it a parting gift for old times sake. Now, assuming that you all do not wish me to cause more devastation and destruction than I absolutely need to, here is a list of my demands…"

* * *

No words. There was nothing that could describe the sheer shock and horror felt throughout the room. Roll sat there, unable to believe just what she was seeing. Rock, somehow managing to keep himself standing, felt the same way. And as for Light, slumped down on the couch in a wide-eyed stupor, it was a wonder he hadn't been rendered completely catatonic.

" !", said Rock, finally pulling himself together and urging Light to do the same. " !"

"How?" muttered Light, still in shock. "Why? What? When? Where?"

" !"

Light suddenly shot up in a burst of panic before resuming a veneer of his usual calm demeanor, if one still somewhat tarnished. "I, I'm sorry Rock. It's just…"

"I know," said Rock."I actually talked to Wily yesterday. I mean, I knew he was upset, but I thought, I thought I could reason with him, you know? Talk some sense into him. But now…"

"No Rock," said Light, "there's no need to blame yourself. I should have noticed. I should have seen this coming! But I failed to notice. Just like he said."

"Like who said?", said Roll, finally turning her eyes away from the TV screen.

"Wily told me. You two were waiting outside last night at the restaurant, drinking your E-Tanks. but he told me. I said that I couldn't understand how things could have possibly gotten this way between us. And he told me, 'perhaps that's why they have.' I knew things were rocky between us, but to think our relationship had gone that far south…"

" !," said Rock. "I understand, believe me, I do, but there are people out there getting hurt or worse and the police can't do a thing! You've built robots, I'm robot, we know what they're capable of and the police can't do do diddle squat! So we've got to do something or else, no; I don't even want to think of what else!"

"But what else is there to do?", said Light, looking down at this feet, his eye-lids half closed. "He's taken over the Robot Masters and done the same to the public service robots. He has a whole army at his disposal, with the generals to match. If I could get into the control center, I might be able to do something, but as is? If we worked with the police, we might have the manpower, but we wouldn't have the strength. If I could whip up, I don't know, a new Robot Master or something, we might have a chance, but I just don't have the time! I can't build a new Robot in one day."

Just then, an idea, a brilliant if somewhat reckless idea at that, hit Rock like a light bulb and a rocketing train combined. "You don't have to."

"Rock?" said Roll.

"I said," said Rock, who would be sweating right now if he could, "you don't have to."

"And why is that?" said Light, who somehow knew or at least had an idea of what Rock was going to say before he said it.

"Because you've already got one right here," said Rock, pounding his chest.

"Rock?!" said Roll, almost jumping to her feet.

"Do you know what you're saying Rock?", said Light.

"I know exactly what I'm saying!", shouted Rock. "And I know what you said! I was built to help others in need! And I can't think of any other need greater than this! You gave me the means to choose how I want to help people? Well, this is how I want to do it! Your best friend is terrorizing the city and no-one can stop him! No-one but me."

"But Rock," said Roll, "what can you do?"

"Right now?" said Rock, "Not much. But with some help from Light…"

"You want me to turn you into a weapon," said Light, crouched over, his hands folded over his mouth in contemplation.

"If I had a choice," said Rock, "I'd choose anything other than this. But there are countless people in trouble right now. If you died Light, I don't know if I'd be able to stay activated if I had a choice. And I know that everyone down there feels the same way about someone. So please. I've got to do this. For you. For me. For everyone."

Silence. Silence that was only broken after what seemed like an eternity. And after long last, , sighing like it was the last time he would ever do so, said…

"There might be a way.

* * *

"There isn't any other way!", said Rock, arguing with Roll in Light's workshop, the red robotic dog who Rock barely noticed given the situation moved to the corner.

"There has to be!" yelled Roll. "I want to help them just as much as you do, but this is YOU we're talking about!"

"ROLL!" Right then and there, with Rock's eyes as intense as ever, Roll finally, if suddenly, restrained herself. But that intensity was as such that Rock instantly regretted it, calming himself and breathing heavily as hepatted Roll on the shoulder. "Roll, honestly, I'm scared too. Maybe more than you. But don't you understand? I have to do this. For you. For Light. For everyone."

"And you really don't think the police can handle this?"

"Me and Light both know the Robot Masters are just too strong for them, never mind the other Robots. They need help."

"As much as I hate to admit it," said Light, stepping into the workshop, "I agree." He was carrying a set of blueprints and schematics, all of which seemed to be years old, all covered with dust.

"Wow!", said Rock. "Where'd you dig up these?"

"A story for another day," said Light. "What matters is that with these blueprints, as well as some old projects I have stored in the back, we may be able to accomplish our goal within the hour."

"But Light," said Roll, "I mean, even with all of this, how are we gonna' do it with just the two of us?"

"Oh," said the now grinning Light, "don't worry about that. I took the liberty of calling in an old friend. Your cousin in fact."

"Cousin?", said Roll, wondering just what Light mean until, as her eyes widened, it became as clear as day.

"You don't mean," said Rock, starting to catch on himself.

As if right on cue, a loud crash could be heard from the entranceway, setting everyone but Light on edge as the door slammed like a hammer once, then twice as it was closed, and the loud stomping of what sounded like giant metal was heard resounding from the hallway. "Ah," said Light. "That should be him now."

And sure enough, clamoring down the halls so fast that he nearly stumbled over his own feet and right past the entrance way to the workshop was none other than—

"AUTO?!", said Rock and Roll together in wide-eyed unison.

He was a rather large and even somewhat portly robot, colored mostly green with lines of red yellow thoughtfully placed here and there. His eyes looked like red taillights, and his arms and legs were like long gray vacuum tubes. If Rock and Roll could were the epitome of just how much robots could fit in with humans, Auto may well have been the exact opposite, or at least from a purely aesthetic viewpoint.

"Hey ya all, what's happening?!", said Auto, in his usual jovial manner. "I came as fast as I could from the shop, though let me tell ya, it was nearly murder trying to barrel through all of those bots in the Auto Mobile."

"Glad you could come Auto."

"No problem Doc!", said Auto. "Sides, I needed a break anyway. Managing a whole line of stores for robot parts is a lot of work!"

"Which is why I built the perfect robot to handle it," said Light. "Who better to sell robot parts than a robot?"

"Certainly helps make ends meet," said Auto, "for all of us. But that ain't why we're here, are we?"

"No," said Light. "And we'd better get started. We've already wasted enough time." He then suddenly turned to— "Rock. Are you ready."

"Honestly?", said Rock. "Not really. But I don't have much choice."

"You always have a choice" said Light. "It's just that this is a rather harsher one than most. Well, I suppose we had better get started."

* * *

"Rock? Rock?!"

Rock could hear Roll's voice, calling out to him. But for what?

He opened his eyes. He felt awful. He held up his arm to the light. He took a good long look.

And then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"My arm," he said. "It's—"

"It's a buster," said Light, as Rock's vision began to clear. Roll and Auto were standing beside him, both wearing goggles and lab coats.

"Light? Roll? Auto?" Rock slowly got up, but it wasn't long before he took a good long look at himself. His entire body was now covered in blue armor, and his head (or so he thought anyway) adorned by an equally blue helmet. And his right arm had now been cannibalized into a—

"A buster?", said Rock.

"Yes," said Light matter-of-factly, adjusting his glasses. "Or an arm cannon, to be more precise. With that buster, you'll be able to fire off out blasts of energy more powerful than most robots can muster. I've also implemented you with an energy replication system, based off a prototype for one of my earlier projects. With it, you can directly hack into another robot's mainframe and replicate their own special abilities temporarily, though you must be in close proximity for it to work. You're also faster, stronger, and more agile than ever. You're more than a match for any of the Robot Masters.

Rock didn't say a word. Not at first anyway. No-one could. He slowly got up from the operating table, holding up his arm further into the light.

"Oh yes'" said Light. "You'll be able to change back and forth between this form and your old one at any moment. Matter replication and alteration and all that."

"Are you okay ,' said Roll.

"Yes," said Light, who was not OK at all. "I'll be fine. But in the meantime, Rock has work to do."

"Yeah,' said Rock, finally pulling himself together and aiming his blaster at an invisible horizon. 'Yeah, yeah I do. And Light?"

"Yes Rock?"

"It's not Rock anymore. Not as long as I'm like this anyway. It's Mega… no. Not Mega Boy. That's already taken."

"Then what, man?", asked Auto.

"That's it," said Rock, his frown turning upside down. "While I'm like this, you can call me… MEGA MAN!"


	3. Chapter 3: Bomb Man

"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE, PIPE DOWN!"

Huddled in the back against the wall of a large room were several men and women in gray jumpsuits, all suddenly in terror of their very lives at the sound of their captor. Blocking the way to a control panel was a somewhat large and portly robot with orange legs and arms and a black body. Bombman stroked his large mohawk atop his orange head with one hand and lightly tossed a bomb up and down in the other, all while leering at this captives like a prison warden.

"That's better. Now, why don't you all just keep yourselves busy 'till the good Doctor says what to do with you? Better for you, better for me, better for everyone. Cause if you don't, well, I hate to admit it, but I might just lose my grip, and we wouldn't want that, would we?"

At first, most of the workers at the control station for the Public Service Robots seemed to agree, sitting back down and doing their best not to provoke his wrath. All except for one.

"Hey," said Bombman, "you got a problem? Cause I'm pretty sure I told you to SIT DOWN!"

The man was very nervous, sweat practically pouring down his brow, and yet, up he stood.

"No," muttered the man under his breath."

"Excuse me", said Bombman, gritting his metallic teeth. "I didn't quite catch that."

"No," said the man, still standing proud. And yet also rather nervously, almost shaking in his boots. Not that it stopped him from saying what he felt he had to say.

The robot couldn't help but grin. "Now listen here dude," he said, lifting the man up by the cuff. "Case it wasn't made clear, I rule the roost round here. I still can't kill you, but Wily managed to loose things up just enough so that I still rough you around a bit. So do you really wanna mess with me?"

Suddenly, a series of blasts or small explosions could be heard from outside the door. More blasts, a series of blows, and then nothing. Was it an intruder? An invasion? Or perhaps the reprogrammed robots guarding the door had gotten bored standing there for the last hour? Either way, it didn't look good.

"HEY!", yelled the robot. "WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE?!"

As if to answer his demand, another blast could be heard, only this time it barreled right through the door, smashing it wide open and only stopping when coming into contact with the back of the wall. And standing in the middle, gripping his blaster, and pointing straight at the orange and black Robot was none other than Mega Man himself."

"I'm what's going on," said Mega Man. "Sorry to disappoint."

"You," said the bomb-toting robot, "Hey, you're the Doctor's boy, ain't you?"

"How do you—"

"Don't sweat it," said the robot, tapping his head. "Everything about you and the Doc is stored right up in here. Guess it came in handy. But what I don't understand is what in the world you're doing waving around that blaster like a child's toy. Though," he said, smirking, "I guess that wouldn't surprise me."

"If I'm waving it around," said Mega Man, it's because I didn't have much choice. Someone needs to stop you."

"Right on!" said Bombman, suddenly hurling a bomb without warning towards the door. It landed right in front of a hostage who had just managed to reach the door, the impact of the blast close enough to knock him back but far away enough to not seriously harm him.

"What did you do that for?!", said Mega Man, aiming his blaster right at Bomb Man.

"Sorry,' said Bomb Man, "but I've got my orders. None of the hostages are allowed to leave, and one of them was trying to do just that. Don't worry, I didn't kill none of them. Couldn't if I tried."

"So you do still have the Three Rules of Robotics," said Mega Man.

"Sort of," said Bomb Man, "though not for lack of trying. Wily did his best to scrap the code altogether, but I guess he didn't just have enough time."

"You can't be serious," said Mega Man, his eyes widening in rage.

"Look," said Bomb Man, "I'm not much for chit chat. I'm a man of action, you know? So we gonna get this party started or what?

"Now hold on a minute," said Mega Man. "Look, if you know about me and , then surely that means you've still got some of your original programming in there. If Wily couldn't completely remove the Rules of Robotics in one night, then maybe he couldn't do the same with your original coding either. And if that's the case, then you know this is completely and totally wrong!"

For a moment, Bomb Man didn't say a word.

"Look," said Bomb Man, "I don't like this any more than you do. Well," he said, flashing a smirk for the briefest of moments, "more or less. But an order's an order."

"But it's not an order you like, is it?", said Mega Man. "Bomb Man, if you can resist Wily's programming for even a moment, then Light could remotely teleport you back to the lab and bring you back to normal."

"Not gonna work,' said Bombman. "I'd be doing everything in my power to keep that from happening. Which means even if you did manage to teleport me, I'd be blowing up the whole darn house. And it also means…"

Another bomb suddenly appeared in his other hand, with only a slight flash to signal it's existence.

"…that this ain't gonna be pretty."

"Wait a minute!", said Mega Man. "Just hold on there!"

"No can do," said Bomb Man. "Wily's orders are clear. If anyone tries and reprograms me, I gotta stop them from doing that. And since you want to get Light to do it…"

"Oh no," muttered Mega Man.

"…then that means I gotta bomb the crap out of you!" With a wild grin, Bombman jumped high into the air and started hurling bombs straight at Mega Man.

"EVERYONE," said Mega Man, "GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" As everyone did as he asked, Mega Man leaped out of the way as the bombs released small explosions, damaging everything in it's wake. But surprisingly, they weren't quite as incarnating as Mega Man would have thought. "He's holding back," muttered Mega Man. "Makes sense," he said, as he continued leaping and ducking and dodging bomb after bomb, leaping to the side, jumping up into the air, landing and rolling back, with Bomb Man jumping all over the place as he unleashed death from above. "Wily wouldn't want him bringing the whole place down with him. But is he also trying to give me a chance? Well, if so…"

Just as Bomb Man jumped up once again and yet another Bomb formed in his hand, Mega Man unleashed the coup de grace. "…then I'll take it!" Having charged up enough energy, he fired up one large blast at the bomb, detonating it in nearly the same instance. All other bombs still in mid-air suddenly exploded simultaneously, as Bomb Man howled in excruciating pain at having been nearly blown apart by his own bomb. As the smoke cleared, Mega Man dashed over to Bomb Man, now lying on the floor in seeming agony. His left leg and right arm had been blow apart, and his body was tarnished and partly charred, but it was nothing that a skilled engineer couldn't fix.

"Heh," said Bomb Man, gritting his teeth and working past the pain despite being in doubtless agony. "You, you did pretty good."

"Thanks," said Mega Man, looking away for a moment, "but I don't really feel it's something worth congratulating me for. Anyway, I'm going to be sending you on back to Light's. With any luck, he can fix you up and get rid of Wily's programming."

"That'd be nice," said Bomb Man. "Now, when he does that, you promise me something."

"Anything," said Mega Man.

"When you take on that SOB," said Bomb Man, "you're taking me with you. I want a piece of the action."

"You sure Bombman?", said Mega Man. "I just totaled you. Do you really want to risk that happening again so soon?"

"Buddy," said Bomb Man, starting to wince, "I live for this sort of stuff."

"Right," said Mega Man. He then pressed a small button on the side of his helmet, one that was so small and was such a shade of blue that you couldn't tell the difference. "Auto?" said Mega Man.

"Hearing you loud and clear man!", he said, over the transceiver built into Mega Man's helmet.

"Right," said Mega Man. "One Robot Master ready for pick up, whenever you want him."

"Whoa!", said Auto. "You really beat him?!",

"Yeah," said Mega Man. "To tell the truth, I almost wish I hadn't."

"Mega Man!", said Roll, speaking through the intercom on the other end. "You okay? You aren't really hurt or anything, are you?"

"Don't worry Roll," said Mega Man, smiling as he did so. "I barely even got a scratch. Everything's fine.

"Whew!", said Roll, wiping non-existent sweat off of her brow. "Thanks Mega Man. I don't know what I'd do if, well, you know."

"My sentiments exactly," said Light over the transceiver.

" !", said Mega Man, stepping back in alarm.

"Good job Mega Man," said Light. "Glad to hear everything's going fine. To be honest, I wasn't sure just how this would turn out. I'm glad, very glad, that you proved me wrong."

"Thanks," said Mega Man, doing his best to remain upbeat and steadfast despite slowly becoming less so. "Read to beam him up?"

"Just about," said Light.

"Right," said Mega Man. "Just hold on a bit, okay? I want to try something first. Bombman?"

"Yup?", said Bombman, still wincing.

"Just hold still, okay? This will only take a second."

"Hey," said Bomb Man, "it's not like I'm going anywhere." Mega Man then kneeled down next to Bombman, touching his battered body. After a moment, a bright light seemed to surround Mega Man, and his entire color scheme changed in an instant, reflecting Bomb Man's own orange and black hue.

"Wow," said Mega Man, marveling at the change that had taken place. Not wasting any time, he concentrated, doing his best to reach into some invisible source and create something out of nothing. And just seconds later, a dud bomb appeared in his own right hand.

"The heck?", said Bomb Man, having just witnessed Mega Man do what should have been impossible for anyone but him.

"Uh, don't worry about it," said Mega Man. "Just some super special Mega Man stuff. That's all. See you back at the lab!"

"Heh," said Bomb Man, too tired and damaged to argue. "Same here." And just like that, he was gone, vanishing in a burst of light and presumably being ported right back over to Light's lab.

"Right," said Mega Man, taking a moment to survey the damage. Just as Mega Man thought, Bomb Man had held back. There were blast marks and pieces of rubble all over the place, but the place still remained in one piece. Just then, one of the operators of the control center poked his head through the door like a sheep. "Uh, is the bomb-wielding maniac with the mohawk gone yet? Just asking."

"Oh," said Mega Man, taken by surprise. "Yup! Don't worry, it should be all safe now. Well, in here anyway. We still need to get those public service bots reprogrammed ASAP!"

"Oh, right!", said the operator. "Come on people!" Those three words were all it took for the other operators to come bursting in and getting back to their posts. In record speed, they were all back to their positions and regaining control of the robots just like that. Before long, Mega Man, looking at the street below from the large windows surrounding much of the room, could see that at the very moment the operators had regained control, so too had the robots regained control of themselves, stopping right in their tracks. He breathed a sigh of both relief and anxiety; relief that the public services robots were no longer causing chaos, but anxiety that, in all likelihood, his job still wasn't over yet.

"Right, muttered Mega Man. "Light?"

"Yes Mega Man?" said Light, his voice resounding over the transceiver.

"How are things looking out there?"

"Not good," said Light. "You may have secured the center of the city, but from what I can gather, you still have a ways to go. The other Robot Masters are holed up in other parts of the city, each with their own Command Center that issues orders to various menial robots, and while none of them command quite as many robots at the Central Command Center does, they're all still enough to be a rather substantial threat. Now, once I've repaired and reprogrammed Bomb Man, I can send you some back up, but until then, as sorry as I am to say this, you're on your own."

"Oh," said Mega Man, slumping as he sighed once again.

"Are you alright Mega Man?", said Light.

"Uh, yeah," said Mega Man, despite not exactly being alright at all. "Yeah, I'm alright. I'm fine, really. But thanks for asking anyways Light."

"You sure, Mega Man?", said Roll.

"I'm fine!", shouted Mega Man, shocking everyone on the other end. Instantly, he realized his mistake. "I, I'm fine. Sorry about that."

"Rock," said Light, "I know this is hard for you. In fact, it's hard for me, having to send you out there to fight your own family. But Rock. When you told me that there was no other way, that there was nothing else that could be done, that this was the only course of action, you were right. So please, don't go back on that now."

Silence.

"Don't worry," said Mega Man, who despite his words sounded somewhat worried himself. "I won't let you down."

"Thank you Rock," said Light, "though I suppose it's still Mega Man for now. With any luck, it won't be for much longer. I'm about ready to send you over to the next location. Ready Mega Man?"

"Uh, ready," said Mega Man, who was in fact only mostly ready.

"Right," said Light. And in a moment, Mega Man found himself being carried away in a flash of blue light, unsure of just what was going to happen next.


End file.
